Is this a tooth in my rock?

[NEA Rocks]

Found this rock recently while out foraging. Didn’t see the “eye” in the rock until I got home. I’m a life long rock collector (38 years). I am only recently learning how to identify fossils/artifacts and looking back over my collection with new eyes. I have no method to my madness when hunting. I just like rocks. I am enjoying learning new facts about how rocks/fossils/artifacts are formed and identification. Research is overwhelming when you start searching. FB groups are often rude and unhelpful. I stumbled upon this group and I really appreciate the info and sharing. I read the hints on photos and did my best to get useful pictures. I’m pretty thick skinned so feel free to educate/correct me. It’s part of learning and I won’t be offended. 

Found on Crowley’s Ridge, Greene County, Northeast Arkansas (red circle on maps)

picked from the surface, I’m not much of a digger (yet!) Arrowheads are all over this region. I have never found one. I suspect I overlook them since I’m drawn to other shapes/textures. 
 

Thanks for letting me join the community! 

[DPS Ammonite]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

It looks like a cross section of a brachiopod or bivalve filled with hardened sediment. You probably can’t identify what type unless you find better preserved ones in the same rock. Age is unknown as it is probably a clast in Quaternary sediments.

 

One of the best ways to get a better eye is to go on a collecting trip with a local fossil or rock and mineral group. Do you have any nearby?

Edited September 30, 2022 by DPS Ammonite

[Fossildude19]

I agree - the larger ovoid shape is the cross section of a bivalve or brachiopod.

[digit]

13 hours ago, NEA Rocks said:

Research is overwhelming when you start searching. FB groups are often rude and unhelpful. I stumbled upon this group and I really appreciate the info and sharing. I read the hints on photos and did my best to get useful pictures.

Thanks for noticing the atypical social media experience we try to provide at TFF.

 

We enjoy talking about fossils and have no patience for all of the drama and conflict prevalent on most social media sites. We're here to talk fossils and enjoy the interactions with other folks who share that passion. Sometimes we have some useful knowledge that we can share with others and often we can benefit from the knowledge shared by our diverse membership.

 

As DPS Ammonite mentioned, this rock is probably a chunk of older material found in the Quaternary deposits where you found it. It really does have the look of a cross-section through a brachiopod shell but these were vastly more common in the Paleozoic Era with greatest abundance/diversity in the Devonian Period around 400 Ma (million years ago).

 

13 hours ago, NEA Rocks said:

I’m pretty thick skinned so feel free to educate/correct me. It’s part of learning and I won’t be offended. 

That's the right attitude to unlock learning (here or anywhere). Folks who come to the forum with preconceived notions and a closed mind get little from the experience other than frustration. If you have the passion for rock-hounding and artifact or fossil hunting, learning what might be in your area is supremely helpful in focusing your search.

 

Arkansas is not as prolific a state for fossil information but some research online might turn up some information to guide your search. While rather slim, you might find some clues while reading through the fossil site information for your state here:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/forum/93-arkansas/

 

Many newcomers show up with a curious rock that doesn't contain a fossil at all--you are ahead of the game already.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[FranzBernhard]

Nice geopetal infill in that brachiopod or bivalve.
Franz Bernhard

Edited September 30, 2022 by FranzBernhard

[NEA Rocks]

Thanks guys! I just read something about how rocks like chert are formed and it makes perfect sense now how this little guy got stuck in there. I have always been fascinated by rocks and their unique “ingredients”. Thanks for the info, links, and encouragement! … and brace yourselves because I will be showing plenty of curious rocks that contain nothing more than my affection!

Edited September 30, 2022 by NEA Rocks

[NEA Rocks]

2 hours ago, digit said:

Arkansas is not as prolific a state for fossil information but some research online might turn up some information to guide your search. 

I have a theory on this if you want to hear it… This of course is farm county and I know farmers who turn up artifacts while working the land. If you report them it can cause red tape that interrupts the work flow. So a lot things simply don’t get reported. I wonder if that has any impact on the amount of information for this area… you can’t walk 10 ft without finding evidence of the natives who loved this land. There’s so much history here yet it’s rarely acknowledged. I wonder if greed drowns out the desire to preserve… but I really have no idea. Just things I think about while roaming through nature with my heads in the clouds.

[JohnJ]

17 minutes ago, NEA Rocks said:

There’s so much history here yet it’s rarely acknowledged. I wonder if greed drowns out the desire to preserve

 

Fortunately, I doubt that is a major influence.  

 

Check out some past Arkansas topics.

[Crusty_Crab]

27 minutes ago, NEA Rocks said:

I have a theory on this if you want to hear it… This of course is farm county and I know farmers who turn up artifacts while working the land. If you report them it can cause red tape that interrupts the work flow. So a lot things simply don’t get reported. I wonder if that has any impact on the amount of information for this area… you can’t walk 10 ft without finding evidence of the natives who loved this land. There’s so much history here yet it’s rarely acknowledged. I wonder if greed drowns out the desire to preserve… but I really have no idea. Just things I think about while roaming through nature with my heads in the clouds.

Is there an example where a farmer found an artifact and it caused red tape? What is the legislation in Arkansas that would prevent a farmer from working his property if he found an artifact? It would be useful to examine the details of that case. 

[NEA Rocks]

10 minutes ago, Crusty_Crab said:

Is there an example where a farmer found an artifact and it caused red tape? What is the legislation in Arkansas that would prevent a farmer from working his property if he found an artifact? It would be useful to examine the details of that case. 

I only know what I have gathered from casual conversations on the topic so I could be way off on the whole thing… In short this is what I’ve understood-  when pottery or other items are turned up in the field they are supposed to halt work in that area and wait for someone from Arkansas State University to come out and look things over. Once the green light is given farming can resume as usual. I’ve heard it said that once you have ASU on the property they can decide the area is of significance and should be preserved and/or find other areas of interest nearby while they are there and slow the process down. Whether or not that actually happens I don’t know. Could be a lot of gossip. (Old men gossip like hens!) 

I personally know one person who had a spot evaluated and cleared. The process only took a few days and wasn’t that big of a deal. It was very nerve racking until it was cleared though. Again a lot of the fear was hype from locals saying how it could turn into a hairy ordeal. If you know any crop farmers you know they are serious about staying on schedule. 

It may be that with the abundance of artifacts in the area that it’s not as serious as I’ve been lead to believe. 
 

Also it is easy to think of anything prior to modern civilization as “ancient” artifacts. But in reality there may not be anything interesting in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. 

[Crusty_Crab]

2 minutes ago, NEA Rocks said:

I only know what I have gathered from casual conversations on the topic so I could be way off on the whole thing… In short this is what I’ve understood-  when pottery or other items are turned up in the field they are supposed to halt work in that area and wait for someone from Arkansas State University to come out and look things over. Once the green light is given farming can resume as usual. I’ve heard it said that once you have ASU on the property they can decide the area is of significance and should be preserved and/or find other areas of interest nearby while they are there and slow the process down. Whether or not that actually happens I don’t know. Could be a lot of gossip. (Old men gossip like hens!) 

I personally know one person who had a spot evaluated and cleared. The process only took a few days and wasn’t that big of a deal. It was very nerve racking until it was cleared though. Again a lot of the fear was hype from locals saying how it could turn into a hairy ordeal. If you know any crop farmers you know they are serious about staying on schedule. 

It may be that with the abundance of artifacts in the area that it’s not as serious as I’ve been lead to believe. 
 

Also it is easy to think of anything prior to modern civilization as “ancient” artifacts. But in reality there may not be anything interesting in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. 

That sounds like its worth looking into to understand the specifics of what happened. I hear that there is an example of a farmer that uncovered pottery on their property and was compelled to stop work at all until ASU gave them the go ahead. Is this documented somewhere so that we can understand what happened?

[DPS Ammonite]

3 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

Nice geopetal infill in that brachiopod or bivalve.
Franz Bernhard

Point out what geopetal structures tell us.

[digit]

In Florida any "artifacts" older than 50 years are considered off-limits if collected on state land. This means a 1969 7-UP bottle collected while sifting for fossils in the Peace River is technically verbotten to keep but a 1973 Coke bottle would be welcome to be removed as "trash" from the river. Make sense? If so, explain it to me. I understand protecting artifacts but anything less than 100 years old I'd consider "antiques" rather than "artifacts". Some years back the state cracked down on artifact collecting nullifying the Isolated Finds Policy which allowed you to keep isolated finds discovered while looking for something else (like fossils). In order to (attempt to) stop the bad apples who were nighthawking on known Native American sites digging up artifact to sell online, the state pretty much went zero tolerance on all artifacts (apparently even items younger than me). Doesn't really make sense and likely hasn't stopped any of the nefarious activities but till we get some sort of replacement for this policy we have to live within the rules.

 

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.518.4058&rep=rep1&type=pdf

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[NEA Rocks]

3 minutes ago, Crusty_Crab said:

That sounds like its worth looking into to understand the specifics of what happened. I hear that there is an example of a farmer that uncovered pottery on their property and was compelled to stop work at all until ASU gave them the go ahead. Is this documented somewhere so that we can understand what happened?

You know I’m not sure… keep in mind this is all just things I’ve picked up so what I have pieced together could be way off. But I will certainly ask more questions next chance I get… I’m a curious cat, but that doesn’t mean I always get the whole picture. 

[NEA Rocks]

1 hour ago, DPS Ammonite said:

Point out what geopetal structures tell us.

I had to google geopetal structures… would that be the dark (sparkly) part? 

[digit]

Geopetal was new to me as well. I enjoy topics that breach my envelope of knowledge.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_up_structure

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[FranzBernhard]

12 hours ago, DPS Ammonite said:

Point out what geopetal structures tell us.

The dark, depressed arc inside the shell.

Franz Bernhard

Edited October 1, 2022 by FranzBernhard

[FranzBernhard]

10 hours ago, NEA Rocks said:

would that be the dark (sparkly) part? 

Yes.

You can clearly see, that I have this snail, cut in half and polished, upside-down :

Franz Bernhard

Edited October 1, 2022 by FranzBernhard